For me, Superior Spider-Man was the first ongoing Spider-Man series that I started following. Even though I've been a fan of comics for most of my young life, I only started buying single issues after the start of the "Marvel NOW!" initiative. I didn't even start reading the book when if first came out, as I started reading the series around the time issue #9 came out. It was only after I had started hearing about the developments in the story and people at my LCS recommending the book to me, that I started reading it. I bought all the single issues up to that point, and I'm happy to say that I don't regret doing so for a second. Being that I had no real emotional ties to the Peter Parker character in the comic book universe, I wasn't really hung up on the fact that Peter died. I had my doubts about the story, sure. I mean, it's a villain being Spider-Man, an idea that could have gone terribly wrong. But I didn't have a love for the Peter character like other long time fans did (and still do), so it was pretty easy to get into it, and the series truly was a lot of fun to read.
I always found the series to be very engaging, to the point that it was hard to wait for the series to release it's newest issue even after going to a bi-weekly schedule. It really is saying something that Otto, for being as despicable as he could be, was never a character I grew to hate or despise or get annoyed with. Even though he did terrible things, I was always able to sympathize with (or at least understand) him because of his (admittedly questionable) motivations. Doing what he believed was "right", the fact that he was successful in his endeavors, made him that much more interesting of a character to read about, especially when it was hard to argue the logic behind his actions (Killing a villain to keep him from hurting or killing others). It was especially interesting to see the story from the perspective of a villain-turned-forcibly-hero, doing what he believed to be the heroic action, seeing him fight crime in a manner that could still be considered villainous, but with twisted heroic intentions. Speaking of which, it was refreshing to see a villain in the hero role for so long, and not have it simply play out as a "What If?" story. Actions had weight to them, and everything he did made it that much more interesting, leaving you wonder what the destination to this journey would be.
If anything, the only reason why I really want to see Peter return as Spidey is to see how he handles the fallout from Otto's actions. I know people have hated the SpOck character (even if they haven't read the story), but this is a case of a story (hopefully) being a means to a new end, and not simply rehashing more stories, and a story that will be beneficial to the Peter character. It's a story that felt important every time I read it, one that even with it's problems (the "characters dumb down" argument. some of the stories missing their potential, ex. "Darkest Hour" ), was always something I looked forward to reading.
I'll miss SpOck, and do wish the story had gone on a little longer to see where the series could've possibly gone next, as I think the story still had a lot more possibilities to explore. For all I know, Dan Slott might blow it and make the series pointless (I don't think he will, but expectations are certainly high). That being said, whatever the fallout may be, this is the story that helped cement my place as a Spider-Man fan and reader, even if it wasn't because of Peter Parker, and one that I know that I'll always look back fondly on.
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